7 Quick Takes Friday- #4

We had a great week around here... hope you did too. I'm really enjoying this "7 Quick Takes" thing-- it gives me a chance to reflect on the week. Here are some random things from this week:

Moses (almost 9 weeks old!) is smiley and wonderful. Here's a picture of him mid-squeak/laugh. I sure love him!
I'm guessing, at this point, that Moses is an introvert. Just a guess. He's reserved but wry (he already seems to catch onto humor/silliness), and reminds me (both in his physical appearance and his personality, so far) of our second son, Baxter, who is a hilarious introvert. The thing about Baxter is that if you don't know him and aren't around him regularly (enough for him to get comfortable around you), you'd totally miss out on the hilarity, because he's guarded about who he lets see it. But we all agree that he is (hands down!) the funniest person in our family. Our three other kids have been hugely flirty extroverts as babies, so it could be that he's just somewhere in the middle, but so far, Moses reminds me of Baxter.
It took me until last night to figure it out, but I'm fairly convinced that the reason Moses has been consistently waking up at 4:30 every.single.night.for.the.last.two.weeks. is because of drums that precede the call to prayer during Ramadan. DUH! As I've mentioned before, we hear the Islamic call to prayer, crazy loud, five times a day, but because of fasting during Ramadan, there is a tradition here that a man walks around about an hour before the call to prayer and bangs on a drum to wake up all the women so they can prepare a meal so everyone can eat before the first call to prayer happens around 5:30 a.m.

In the summers, we sleep with our windows open because we don't have a/c, so whatever happens outside (car alarms, kids yelling & playing until midnight--yes, that's normal here, it's nuts!-- and the drums before the call to prayer) drifts into our windows and has the potential to interrupt sleep. Anyway, Ramadan ends this week, but it's taken me all this time to realize that THAT's why he's been waking up and not sleeping longer.
Our oldest son Ethan was baptized this week. He and one of his good buddies were actually baptized together. What a special day! Friends came along too, and we all went out to an island here, went down to a small cove for the baptisms, and then we had a picnic and enjoyed the day together.
We went to see U2 in concert Monday night. Seeing them in an overseas setting this time (we went to their Dallas show five years ago) was a different experience. Bono's comments were translated on the screens. Their social/political activities took on more significance and real-world meaning to me as I considered these things from this side of the ocean. He talked about elections in Iran, the importance of Turkey to the world, and of course, they sang some amazing songs. Seeing them here solidified (for me) the difference between their political actions and some of the mouthy American singers who take loud positions but do nothing to actually make a difference. Yes, they speak out, but U2 also travels around the world, writes songs about peace in the world, meet with politicians to be informed and to persuade, raise money for the poor, and ultimately, seek to consistently speak up for those who have no voice and promote peace and justice.

We took the boys with us as a present for their birthdays (they were so excited), but because their show started an hour later than they'd been doing on this tour, our still-sleepy-though-he's-6-years-old Baxter only lasted through about 3-4 songs (he saw all of Snow Patrol's opening set & stayed awake for the hour --!-- between sets), and Ethan lasted a little more than 45 minutes. So it ended up being almost like a date for Doug & I, LOL. We each had a boy asleep on our laps, and I had Moses sleeping across me and occasionally nursing in the sling as we got serenaded by Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton (wearing a shiny silver shirt, which prompted a conversation about rock star style between Ethan & I), and Larry Mullen, Jr. (wearing the classic white tee he always wears)!

Snow Patrol opened for the show, and I like them even more after seeing them, even though the sound for their set was really loud and wonky. They've got a great sound (despite their unbalanced system that night) and were really humble and likable. The lead singer reminded us both of Chris Martin in the way he acts and emotes on stage.

All in all, seeing U2 again was a real treat!

Just a little tip from a friend: If you normally make beignets in square and triangle shapes, please just keep right on making them in those nice square and triangle shapes. Don't decide that you're going to start cutting them like donuts for fun, because if you do, you will end up with a bunch of little donut holes. Those extra uneaten donut holes will sit on your counter and keep tempting you to eat them because it's *just one* little bite-sized bit of tastiness, and so every time you walk into the kitchen, you will have to fight some fierce urges or suffer the consequences. Those little bite-sized "just one"s will add up to a world of trouble. :) This is the only public service announcement I'll make on this matter. Consider yourself warned.
Not having my computer around has been awesome. Really. I'm getting a lot done around the house, but what's more, I'm spending more time and more quality time (less interruptions from all that I feel like I need to do) with my awesome kiddos.
Experiencing what life is like without it makes me think I should've drop-kicked my computer a long time ago. Of course, it's nice to be able to still check e-mail and (as I'm doing now) spend a little time online every now and then, but I'm really enjoying being generally unplugged.